In its bid to strengthen 4G network capacity and to bridge the gap in subscriber base between the telecom leader, Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel made the move to acquire the Tata Teleservices’ consumer mobility business last year. However, the acquisition was pending clearance from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). In the latest revelation made by ET Telecom, the Mumbai bench of the NCLT has finally approved the Sunil Bharti Mittal led telco to acquire the consumer mobility wing of Tata Teleservices. The deal will also help the former market leader in strengthening its 4G spectrum portfolio thus increasing its odds against the Mukesh Ambani led telecom operator, Reliance Jio.

Bharti Airtel to Now Seek Approval from DoT After NCLT

In a regulatory filing on BSE Wednesday, Tata Teleservices said, NCLT’s Mumbai bench “has sanctioned the scheme of arrangement amongst Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) and Bharti Airtel and their respective shareholders and creditors under Sections 230 to 232 and other applicable provisions of the Companies Act, 2013.”

The company remarked that the scheme would “be given effect, subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions, including transferee company (read: Bharti Airtel) obtaining necessary approval of NCLT’s Delhi bench and the approval of the DoT”.

When ET sent out questions to Bharti Airtel, they went unanswered. However, the clearance from the NCLT is one of the many which Bharti Airtel has to acquire before it goes ahead with the merger proceedings. More importantly, now the telecom operator will need to take clearance from the Delhi bench of NCLT and then from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). As per the agreement between the two companies, Bharti Airtel will take responsibility for approximately Rs 1,500 – Rs 2,000 crore worth of spectrum auction related dues out of the total Rs 10,000 crore that Tata Teleservices needs to make to the government in the coming years.

However, when the decision of acquisition was announced, the telecom department was quick to intervene. The department wasn’t easily convinced, after which Bharti Airtel and TTSL in their letter to the DoT described the terms of the arrangement, highlighting that Bharti Airtel would be taking over a fraction of the payment which would also include licence fee, spectrum usage charge and one-time spectrum charges. The letter to DoT also made it clear that Tata Sons would bankroll the Airtel payment in effect.

Also, in October last year, Tata Teleservices had drafted a term sheet to transfer its consumer mobility business to Bharti Airtel. The pact outlined that Airtel would acquire Tata Teleservices’ wireless business which boasts of around 20 million customers along with a large chunk of its employees and about 178.5 units of airwaves spread across 19 circles on a cash-free, debt free basis. Out of the total airwaves that Bharti Airtel will receive from TTSL, 40% are 4G ready.

As of right now, Bharti Airtel holds spectrum across 900 Mhz, 1800 Mhz, 2100 Mhz and 2300 Mhz bands with total units being 1,086 as per a Morgan Stanley note. It is also worth noting that in this development, the Bharti Airtel and Tata Teleservices deal has already received clearance from Competition Commission of India (CCI) and Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi).?When the acquisition deal goes through, it will also mean that Bharti Airtel will have an indefeasible right to use (IRU) for sections of the existing fibre network of the Tatas.

Reported By

Must Read

Now one can get a free TATA DOCOMO SIM card with fabulous Samsung handsets. To avail lifetime validity with this offer, one has to recharge with Rs. 48 and also get with one paisa per second call rate across India

Amazon has officially announced the launch of its music streaming service, Prime Music in India. The service can be accessed by users on their Android and iOS devices by downloading the app from Play Store and App Store respectively. In

The global technology leader Nokia and the telecom operator Bharti Airtel have joined together to deploy 4G technology across nine circles in India as a means to meet the increasing data demand in the country. According to Nokia, India reports

Recent News

Samsung is all set to launch Galaxy S10 series of phones on February 20 right before Mobile World Congress which kicks off a week later. As far as the rumours are concerned, Samsung is likely to launch three phones under

Vodafone after its merger with Idea Cellular has definitely increased its capex and is moving ahead with intensity to counter the competition in the telecom playing field. However, the introduction of the minimum recharge plans has triggered a subscriber fallout

Last year Asus debuted one of its most prominent offerings in India, the Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1. The phone went on to witness massive sales and became one of the highest selling mid-range smartphones in India. Asus has also

Waiting for the same to happen. Airtel is shit in indoor conditions. Best in outdoor conditions. Band 8 LTE will be deployed soon. Nothing yet. Band 1 LTE will be deployed too. I hope this happens within next six months.

ReplyHide Replies ∧

Kaushik IMA

December 23, 2018 11:57 pm 11:57 PM

VOLTE has a registration bug, please wait while airtel is fixing this. It will work for some and fail for others!

Reply

Ashish

December 21, 2018 5:11 am 5:11 AM

Still no volte in roaming

Reply

Kamesh Mahadevan

December 21, 2018 6:10 am 6:10 AM

Volte on roaming is there in DNCR in Airtel, please get your number checked

Reply

Pratik

December 21, 2018 12:02 pm 12:02 PM

I have Gujarat Airtel SIM with VoLTE enable. But No VoLTE in Delhi.

Reply

Thamilan daa

December 21, 2018 2:34 pm 2:34 PM

Same here. Airtel Chennai SIM VoLTE is working in Tamilnadu and Chennai. Not during national roaming